Protected by Wolves [Shape-Shifter Clinic 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Adams

  Shape-Shifter Clinic 4

  Protected by Wolves

  Someone’s trying to kill Ellie Roth. But is it her hateful family or because she works at the shape-shifter clinic? Dr. Oscar Thorne and the werewolf Alpha both believe it’s all about the clinic. They tell wolves Mike Eden and Rowan Fisher to guard her with their lives.

  Ellie just wants to be left alone. Car accidents, punks with iron bars in the stairwell, it’s all life as usual for a single woman living alone and with a family who hates her. Mike and Rowan are determined to protect her whether she wants them to or not. Besides, sleeping in her apartment has very exciting potential. Mike’s a Dom and he’ll keep Ellie safe or die trying. But Ellie has so many secrets and she isn’t sharing them with the men.

  Meanwhile danger is everywhere around Ellie, and around the clinic, too.

  Genre: BDSM, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Shape-shifter

  Length: 35,934 words

  PROTECTED BY WOLVES

  Shape-Shifter Clinic 4

  Cara Adams

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  PROTECTED BY WOLVES

  Copyright © 2013 by Cara Adams

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-908-0

  First E-book Publication: May 2013

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

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  PROTECTED BY WOLVES

  Shape-Shifter Clinic 4

  CARA ADAMS

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  Mike Eden had pushed the passenger seat of this tiny compact car back as far as it would go, and he was still concerned his knees would smash into the dashboard. “Couldn’t you have borrowed a bigger car?” he groaned to Rowan Fisher.

  They were both werewolf shape-shifters and friends of Oscar Thorne, who was the doctor at Thorne House Clinic, the shape-shifter clinic.

  “If you were five foot eleven, like me, instead of six three, you wouldn’t have a problem. Besides, Oscar asked us to swing by and check out the homes of some of his single female workers because he’s worried his cousin George is going to target one or more of them and cause them trouble. If we have to keep driving by we can’t use my car—or yours—too often or the police will be arresting us for stalking. This is my sister’s car and it’s suitably inconspicuous.”

  Mike just grunted. They’d had this conversation twice already, but it didn’t make his long legs any more comfortable. “Tomorrow we hire a car. A much larger car.” He’d said that before, too, but he really meant it this time.

  They hadn’t bothered to get too close to the two women who’d car pooled together, just checking that no one seemed to have followed them and that both had arrived home safely. Then they’d raced across two neighborhoods to be in time to see Ellie Roth pull into the parking lot of her apartment block. The block she lived in was large, and so was the parking lot, but even though it wasn’t six yet the lot appeared to be almost full.

  Rowan drove his sister’s car very, very slowly several aisles away from the one Ellie was traveling down, which had apartment numbers painted in each parking space. Mike saw her shoulders slump when she reached what was presumably her allocated parking space and there was already a car in it. She just kept driving around to the back of the lot.

  “I wonder why she didn’t take a picture with her phone, or copy the license plate down, although she may have memorized it I suppose,” he said.

  “Likely one of two things. Either it happens a lot and the management doesn’t do anything to stop it, or the car has a right to be there. I saw her shoulders slump. I reckon there are too many cars and not enough parking spaces and there’s not much anyone can do about it,” said Rowan.

  “There’s a space just ahead of her. She’ll get that,” said Mike, smiling as Ellie accelerated.

  But when she went to park, a man sitting in his car in a nearby spot wound his car window down and yelled at her, so she backed out and kept looking.

  “What was that about? Is he watching that space for a friend? These ones here don’t have apartment numbers painted on them.”

  “I don’t know, but she didn’t say a word so I’m guessing that sort of thing happens a lot, too. You’d think the management would be obliged to have an adequate number of car spaces,” said Rowan.

  Mike tilted his head back, counting. “Twelve floors of apartments. What do you think? Eight apartments per floor, so maybe two hundred car parking spaces needed? There must be close to that.”

  “In that case they must all get off work early.”

  Mike snorted. He didn’t think that was why the parking lot was full. Ellie had now left the area and was driving very slowly down the road behind the lot. It was at least a quarter mile before she found a vacant space and parked her car.

  Rowan pulled up to the curb, and they watched as she climbed out, locked her car, checked that her door was indeed locked, then bega
n walking back. Her eyes were looking down to the ground, and her shoulders hunched forward so her light-brown hair fell forward, too, hiding her glasses.

  “She’s scared,” said Mike.

  “I see that, too, but I don’t know why,” said Rowan softly.

  “I don’t think this is a very nice neighborhood.”

  “I’m getting that vibe. We’ll watch her all the way in. Get ready to get out of the car and press the elevator for a level a couple floors above hers then run down the stairs and check she gets home safely.”

  Mike nodded. He’d just been thinking maybe they should follow her inside. Rowan stayed well behind her as she turned into the parking lot. Mike noticed she walked down the middle of the road, not between the parked cars, which was very sensible of her. It made it much more difficult for someone to jump out of a car and attack her.

  Just then the SUV which had been parked in Ellie’s assigned parking space revved its engine and backed out with a screech of tires, turning to race down the road directly toward Ellie. Mike undid his seat belt and jumped out of the car, slamming the door and running as fast as he could. Behind him he thought he heard Rowan say, “Karen’s going to kill me,” but that didn’t make sense so he ignored it and concentrated on reaching Ellie before there was any trouble.

  She ran between the parked cars into the next aisle closer to the building, then between the cars again to the closest lane to the apartment building. Mike shadowed her, his long legs proving useful now as he could go much faster than her and also see over the tops of all the vehicles.

  Ellie stopped on the sidewalk and turned as tires screamed and the smell of burned rubber filled the air. Mike turned, too, and saw Rowan had pulled his sister’s car across the width of the lane, completely blocking it. Ah! So that’s why he said his sister would kill him. He was about to risk her car getting T-boned. The car that had been in Ellie’s space, a blue SUV, was busy trying to make a three-point turn to go back the way it’d come. A cloud of smoke surrounded the SUV’s wheels. More like a five- or six-point turn, but the young driver, just a kid, was in a hurry to get out of there.

  Mike took a few steps closer to Ellie. “I guess he shouldn’t have been in your parking space after all.”

  “How did you—?”

  “Lucky guess. Why don’t you go get your car and park in your rightful place?” he said gently, noticing she seemed very tense.

  She shook her head, turned, and kept walking.

  Mike wasn’t sure what he should do or say, but decided to go with the truth. “My name’s Mike Eden, and Oscar asked my friend Rowan Fisher and I to keep an eye on the unmarried women staff members in case of trouble. I’d say this qualifies as trouble and I’m available to help you.”

  She stopped and looked at him, lifting her head right up and gazing full into his face.

  Damn but she was beautiful. Her eyes were enormous silver pools hidden behind nondescript eyeglasses, and her pale cheeks had developed just a hint of pink color. He hoped that wasn’t from anger at him.

  “If you contact Oscar, I swear he’ll confirm what I said.”

  “I could do that. I could also walk back and get my car but by the time I arrived here again someone else would be parking in my place. There’s a construction site two blocks north of here with nowhere for anyone to park. A group of the unemployed people who live here have subleased their parking spaces to the construction workers and people who live around there to make some money. Then the apartment dwellers park in the unmarked spaces, which is fair enough. Except other people just park anywhere without permission or payment and there’s nothing management can do about it. It wouldn’t even surprise me if management has subleased some of the other parking spaces as well.” She gave him a shy grin and turned to keep walking.

  “At least let me walk you to your apartment door.”

  She shrugged.

  Mike took that as a yes and slowed his pace to match hers. She was tiny. The top of her head scarcely reached his shoulder, and she was thin as well. He hoped she wasn’t one of those women who starved themselves to look like a runway model.

  Just then a car horn beeped and he looked up to see Rowan parking in Ellie’s space.

  “Look. Rowan’s saved your parking space for you. Come on, I’ll walk you back to where you’ve parked, and at least you won’t have a long walk tomorrow morning.”

  She flashed him a smile. “Okay.”

  Mike enjoyed striding along with her all the way back to her car. She made no attempt to prevent him from climbing in beside her, and he did so, settling himself into the seat then pushing it all the way back.

  “You’re the first really tall wolf I’ve ever met,” she said conversationally.

  “What?” How had she guessed? Just because he said he was Oscar Thorne’s friend?

  “Don’t bother to lie. I can smell you’re a wolf. I always know.”

  “Does that mean you lived and worked with shape-shifters before you began work at the clinic? Are you a shape-shifter as well?”

  “Do you know Ambrielle Watson, the office manager at the shape-shifter clinic?” she asked.

  “Of course. What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “My parents knew her Aunt Kitty. Ambrielle and I were childhood friends. It was Ambrielle who told Oscar they needed someone at the clinic to be in charge of all the medical documents and records and suggested me for the position.”

  Mike blinked and shook his head trying to absorb the news. “Are you a cat shape-shifter?”

  * * * *

  Ellie wasn’t surprised Dr. Thorne had sent his friends to watch over his staff. He was the most considerate boss she’d ever worked for, and she’d worked for a lot of different people in the past ten years. She was really hoping this time she could stay in a job more than a year. She was going to have to find a new apartment when her contract was up in less than a month, and that was enough to worry about right now without having to change jobs again anytime soon. Where else would she find an apartment as cheap as her current one, but in a safer neighborhood? She had a sinking feeling that anything she could afford was either going to be overrun with vermin or in a dangerous area.

  Ellie hated people noticing her or fussing around her. Her vision of happiness was shut up alone in her apartment with a kitten on her lap and an old romance movie on the television. At work, she liked to be left in peace in a silent back room so she could create tidy spreadsheets and reports out of a maze of coffee-stained, dog-eared paper records. She guessed she would have to answer this man eventually, but right now she didn’t have the strength to explain the tangled mess that was her childhood, a life she’d walked away from at age fifteen when she’d gotten her first job by lying to an employer who was too busy to ask for proof of age or any identity documents at all.

  The other man—Rowan—waited until she was right beside her parking space before he pulled out so she could slide right in. He said, “I’ll just keep circling around until you get back, Mike.”

  Ellie felt relief surge through her. She was still all tense inside and knew she’d never be able to eat tonight from the stress of the stupid kid in the parking lot driving right at her. She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to sleep. Fortunately she wouldn’t have to talk to these men since the other one was going to be waiting for Mike to come back outside.

  She walked quickly into the building, her gaze on the floor, wanting to be invisible, ignored, but knowing that it would be harder than normal with such a tall, lean man beside her. Ignoring the elevator, she pushed the door to the stairs open and began climbing. As she climbed, she counted silently. Twenty-five steps to the first turn, twenty-four to the second turn.

  Usually she was listening carefully for any sound of someone waiting on the stairs. Mostly it was lovers looking for a quiet place to kiss, or even drug addicts shooting up, but sometimes it was a potential attacker. Fortunately they were usually stupid enough to smoke—and not just tobacco either—or to fidget, an
d she was easily able to hear them and exit the stairwell to get away from them in time. Since she walked very softly, mostly they didn’t even know she was there. They’d just hear the door open and close.

  Today, though, the man, Mike, was walking so purposefully anyone would hear his shoes tapping on the concrete stairs. With luck any potential attacker would understand it was a man coming and change their mind. Well, so she hoped.

  She heard the tiny, but distinct sound of metal on metal between the sixth and seventh floors. Well fuck! Silently she turned to flee, but Mike grabbed her arm, shook his head at her, and pushed her behind him. He raced up the stairs so fast she had no chance of keeping up with him. Then there was a thump, and she saw an iron bar sail over the rails and crash noisily down to the ground six levels below them.

  Cautiously Ellie crept up the stairs and peered around the bend. Mike was leaning over a young kid, going through his pockets. Mike took the kid’s wallet and beckoned her to come to him, which she did by pressing her back against the wall and stepping over the unconscious kid’s legs.

  Mike placed his finger over his lips in the universal symbol for silence. She nodded. She hadn’t planned to say anything anyway. What could she say? “You shouldn’t hit a kid?” When the teenager had so obviously been planning to hit them—or someone—anyway?

  Mike waved her ahead of him again, and she moved faster up past the seventh and eighth floors to exit at the ninth. When she reached her apartment Mike once again pushed her behind him, opening her door and looking around the living room. She really wasn’t used to anyone being so protective of her. It was a strange feeling to have someone, a man, looking after her.